Substituted phenol



Patented June 9, 1942 SUBSTITUTED PHENOL Fred Lowell Taylor and John E. Livak, Midland,

Mich., assignors to The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich, a corporation of Michigan N Drawing. Application April 27, 1940,

Serial No. 331,945

4 Claims.

This invention relates to new substituted phenols, and in particular concerns substituted phenols containing three or more substituents, at least two of which are a-phenylethyl groups vlocated para and/or ortho to the hydroxyl group.

Such compounds may be defined by the general formula l H /X H Crijj-QQ wherein R. represents a halogen, alkyl, alkoxy,

cycloalkyl, aryl, or .aralkylgroup, n represents an integer not greater than 2, and the a-phenylethyl group occupies positions ortho and para to the hydroxyl group. These compounds are usually obtained as high-boiling viscous liquids, although in some cases they may occur as resinous or crys- The new compounds of the present class may be prepared by direct reaction between an oz-hfllO- ethylbenzene, such as a-chloroethylbenzene or a-blOIIlOBthYlbGIlZBIlfi, and a substituted phenol having at least two of the positions ortho and para to the hydroxyl group unoccupied, e. g. Z-chlorophenol, cresol, o-phenylphenol, guaiacol, o-cyclohexylphenol, benzylphenol, 3.5 diethylphenol, etc. The reaction is conveniently carried out simply by heating a mixture of the re actants at a temperature at which hydrogen halide is readily evolved. Such temperature depends somewhat upon the particular reactants employed but is usually between about 100 C. and about 200 C. If desired, the reaction may be carried out under reduced pressure or in a current of inert gas in order to facilitate removal of the hydrogen halide. Upon completion of the reaction, the poly-a-phenylethyl-substituted phenol product is recovered from the reaction mixture and purified by distillation under reduced pressure or by crystallization from a suitable solvent. Usually there is obtained'along with the desired poly-substituted product a small amount of a mono-substituted compound. Such compound is a valuable by-product and may be employed as an intermediate or it may be further reacted with an haloethylbenzene to form the poly-substituted product.

The new products may also be prepared by reacting styrene with a substituted phenol in the presence of anacid catalyst. Also, a mixture of styrene and .an a-haloethylbenzene may be employed, whereby the hydrogen halide formed by reaction between the a-hfilOBthYlbfillZGhB and the phenol acts as a catalyst for the reaction between the styrene and the phenol.

The following examples illustrate the preparation of several of the compounds of the present class but are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

Example 1 In a flask fitted with ,a dropping funnel, stirrer, thermometer, and reflux condenser, 188 grams (2.0 moles) of phenol was heated to a temperature of about C. and 1074 grams of crude oc-ChlOIOGthYlbGllZGl'lB containing ethylbenzene as an impurity was added from the dropping funnel over a period of hour. The temperature was then gradually raised to C. over a period of 2 hours, after which an additional 1070 grams of crude a-chloroethylbenzene was added and the heating continued 'for 2 hours. The reaction mixture was then 'fractionally distilled under reduced pressure whereby there was obtained triaphenylethylphenol, a light-yellow viscous liquid distilling at approximately 25060 C. under 3 millimeters pressure and having a specific gravity of about 1.085 at 25/25 C. and an index of refraction of 1.6067 at 25 C. This product has the structural formula Example 2 A mixture of 810 grams (7.5 moles) of mixed cresols and 21 grams of a-chloroethylbenzene was heated to 100 C. and 780 grams (7.5 moles) of styrene was added gradually over a period of 1 hour. The heating was continued for 1 hours after which the temperature was raised to C. for a short time to insure completion of the reaction. The mixture was then fractionally distilled under reduced pressure whereby the product, di-oz-PhGllYlBthYl-CIGSOL was obtained as a colorless viscous liquid distilling at approximately 210-220 C. under 2 millimeters pressure and having a specific gravity of about 1.071 at 25/25 C., and an index of refraction of 1.5963 at 25 C. This product has the formula wherein the a-phenylethyl substituents occupy positions ortho and para to the hydroxyl group.

Example 3 A mixture of 600 grams (4.0 moles) of 4-tertiarybutyl-phenol and 21 grams of viz-chloroethylbenzene was heated to 160 C. and 832 grams (8.0 moles) of styrene was added as in Example 2. Heating was continued for '7 hours after which the reaction mixture was fractionally distilled under reduced pressure. Di-ocphenylethyl-4-tertiarybutyl-phenol was obtained as a colorless viscous liquid distilling at approximately 211-2l2 C. under 2 millimeters pressure and having a specific gravity of about 1.030 at 25/25 C. and an index of refraction of 1.5732 at 25 C. This product may be represented by the formula c- 6H: AH,

By reacting o-phenylphenol with oz-ChlOIO- ethylbenzene in a manner similar to that described in Example 1, di-a-phenylethyl-2- phenylphenol was obtained as a colorless viscous liquid distilling at approximately 255-265 C. under 2 millimeters pressure and having a specific gravity of about 1.103 at 25 /25 C. Other compounds of the present class which may be prepared as hereinbefore described are: 4.6-di- (a phenylethyl) 2 benzylphenol, 2.4-di-(ocwherein R. represents a substituent selected from the class consisting of alkyl and cycloalkyl groups, n represents an integer not greater than 2, and the aphenylethyl substituents occupy two of the positions ortho and para to the hydroxyl group.

2. A substituted phenol having the general formula OH Y | GEMZQ wherein Y represents an alkyl radical and the phenylethyl substituents occupy two of the positions ortho and para to the hydroxyl group.

3. A dl-(a phenylethyl) 4 tertiarybutylphenol distilling at approximately 211212 C. under 2 millimeters pressure and having a specific gravity of about 1.030 at 25/25 C.

4. A di-(a-phenylethyD-cresol distilling at approximately 210-220 C. under 2 millimeters pressure and having a specific gravity of about 1.071 at 25/25 C.

FRED LOWELL TAYLOR. JOHN E. LIVAK. 

